Weighing-scale.



PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

G. BLESSING. WBIGHING SCALE. I APPLICATION FILED MAR.18, 1905.

3' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 821,278- PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

J. G. BLESSINGf WEIGHING SCALE. APPLICATION TILED MAR.18, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wis

UNITED s'rarns Parana? orricn.

J HN G. BLESSING, or oHicAeo, ILLI1-IOIS,-ASSIGNOR TO osnrn E.

' COCHRAN, or CHICAGO, i L nois.

WEIGHINGHSGALE.

No. 821,278. v

improve the construction and mounting of the dial, and, second, to provide means for overcoming backlash between the dial-shaft bevel-gear and the bevel-gear in mesh therewith. The nieans shown for overcoming backlash between the scale-beam rack and its pinion I do not claim, as I am not the inventor thereof.

I'attain m objects by the mechanismillustrated in t e accompanying :drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete scale, part being shown in section to reveal the interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the complete scale. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the yokewherein one of the bevel-gears is mounted. Figs. 5 and 6 are side and plan views, respectively, of the gears by which the motion of the scalebeam is transmitted to the dial-shaft. Fi 7 is a face view of the preferred form of rea ing member.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary de velopment of the dial, drawn to an increased scale, illustrating the preferred arrangement of the dial-number's. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detail view showing the construction of the guard for preventing the pivoted rack from becoming unmeshed from its pinion.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The scale-beam a is fulcrumed upon the post I) of the main frame I) and carries at one extremity the scale-pan c and at the opposite extremity means for transmitting motion to the dial-shaft. In the preferred construc' tion here shown the transmitting means consists of a rack d, which is pivoted to the ex tremity of the scale-beam and conforms to the arc of a circle having as a radius the distance between the scale-beam fulcrum and the point of attachment of said rack to the scalc-beam.

Said rack is adapted to mesh with the pinion Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18,1905. fierial No. 250,816.

Fig. 8 isa general side view of the conical dial.

Patented May 22, 1906.

e, rotatably mounted in yoke f, as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and in order that said rack may at all times tend to approach said pinion to make close contact therewith and avoid d with a weighted arm 01, extendin approximately at right angles to said rac as best shown in Fig. 1. With this form of rack a stationary guard or keeper (1 should be provided for preventing said rack d from becoming unmeshed from pinion e.

The rotation of inion e is transmitted to the vertical dial-s aft 9 by means of the bevel-gear e, which has a horizontal axis and is adapted to mesh with the bevel-gear q, rigidly secured to said dial-shaft g. In the preferred construction in order to reduce as aras possible the number of parts in the device the pinion e and bevel-gear e are integral with each other and rotatably mounted upon shaft f, mo'unted'in the yoke f. For the purpose of avoiding as far as possible backlash between gears e and g gear 6 gear g, and is weighted to tend to settle down into close contact therewith. The construction whereby this result is obtained is best illustrated in Figs. 1, 4, 5, and 6, wherein yoke f, which carries the gears e, is shown to be pivoted to the stationary horizontal pin 6 rigidly secured to a wall of the frame I). Said yoke is preferably U-shaped, .as shown, and a weight f is carried upon an extension of said yoke at a point away from pin b beyond shaftf. By this construction the weight of yoke f and parts mounted thereon tends to force the gears e and 9 more closely together. Gear-teeth, especially involute teeth, which are the kind preferred in this device, are wider at the base than atthe crown, and by forcing. gear-wheels of this kind together the teeth will become wedged together, so as to make direct contact with each without any appreciable lost motion or backlash. By thus holding the gear e close to gear 9 backlash will be avoided and the dial-shaft g and dial thereon will be brought to rest in an absolutely correct position.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be seen that while the rack d is driving pinion e it has a tendency to raise gear 6 away from gear g.

The result will be that during rotation said backlash it is desirable to provide said rack is made vertically movable, is placed above tween them will be reduced to a minimum; but as soon as the rack d and gear 6 have ceased to rotate the latter will, acting under its own weight augmented by that of the yoke f and weighty" thereon, tend to settle down into close contact with gear g and bring the latter accurately to rest. A stop 7 pin. ('1 is rigidly secured to main frame b or at a given price other stationary part of the machine in such position as to limit the u ward swing of yoke f about its pivot b Tliis will prevent the unmeshing of gear e from gear 9.

The dial-shaft 9 above mentioned is ar ranged vertically and at its lowerextremity has a step-bearing b, secured in stationary position upon main frame I). Rigidly se' cured to shaft 9 at the upper portion thereof is the conical dial h, which is concentric with shaft g and bears upon its surface a series of numbers concentrically arranged. These numbers represent products adapted to be read in connection with a stationary reading member 71. Scales of this type are primarily intended to be used as computing-scales by grocers and other retail merchants, and it is common custom to employ scales having two faces or dials, one of which may be read by the customer to show the number of pounds weight of the article, the other to'be read by the merchant to show the total amount in dollars and cents to-which the article comes er pound. contemplated that the reading member i shall lie upon the side occupied by the merchant; but it is to be noted that by my con-t struotion, in. which. the dial is conical, the same dial may be employed for both indicating the total amount in money to the marchant and simultaneously the total weight to the customer who is onthe opposite side of the scale. To render this practicable, two series of numbers it and'h are employed. T he series it are product-numbers, intended to be read from the merchants side and representing the total monetary amount of the pur.

chase. These numbers are arran ed in circles having the axis of the conical dial as a center and are adapted to be read in connection with said reading member i, which bears multiplier or p ce per pound numbers in the manner hereu i ter described. The series of numbers h represent pounds weight and are intended to be read from the customers side of the scale. These numbers will run from zero up and are also arranged in a circle concentric with the axis of the dial, but preferably are located at the lower eripheral edge of the dial, as indicated in ig.

8. As the two sets of numbers it and h are to be read from opposite sides of the scale, the zero-p ints of the two sets will lie on d ametrically opposite sides of the dial. It is desirable that the merchant should also be heavy radial line.

In my scale it is the zero-point of the numbers it.

Ordinarily it is impractical and unnecessaryto print upon the dial a separate produ t number to represent each cent, and a com mon custom is to print a number for each five cents or ten cents and represent the intermediate cents by dots or short radial lines. In Fig. 9 I have shown a dial-marking which may be employed in connection with my dial, if desired. By this arrangement every tenth cent in any given row has a printed number representing it and also a comparatively A fainter radial line is placed midway betwen each tenth-cent line, and five dots are placed at equal distances between each fifth-cent line. This in itself is not new; but I propose when desired to arrange the dots between any two fifth-cent lines obliquely for rendering each dot more distinctive to thereby increase the ease with which the dial may be read.

The reading member i horeinabove ferred to consists, preferably, of a strip of having a reading-line "L '17 extending lcngiln wise thereof for constituting a line of s l along which the dialnumbers may be n. .[t is desirable in order to avoid parallax in reading to etch or otherwise mark the reading-line upon the under side of the glass strip and to mount said strifp1 as close as possible to dial h, leaving just sit cient space to clear it' as it rotates. On member i at the side of said reading-line are marked multiplier or price numbers, one for each row of prod urtnumbers on the dial after the usual manner in computing-scales.

In the preferred construction a conical can y, conforming closely to the ,shape of it, is placed over said dial and rigidly secured to framework 3). Such a cap both aii'ord s protection to said dial and serves as a support for the reading member It desirable that said cap be opaque and consist, for example, of enameled sheet metal. In such case a slot y" uill be formed in said cap at the point wherc'the reading-number. is to be placed. Said slot is of sufficient length to exhibit all the productmumhers it, but not the weigl'it-numbcrs 1L which latter are here shown to be located at or near the lower edge of the dial. In order to erhibit said weightuumbers on the side op; 't" to the readingnumberi, a second slot 7'" i rmed in said rep at the proper height to Gillillll] said Weightnumbers without exhibiting said productnumbers.

operation when an article to be weighed is placed upon the scale the opposite extremity of the scale-beam a will be raised, thus causingrack d to rotate pinion e and gear e.

The upward movement of said rack (1 will.

tend to raise said pinion e and lift the gear 8 slightly away from its companion gear 9', this motion being permitted by the pivotal mounting of yoke f, but being limited by'the stop pin b This elevating of gear 6 permits t e gears to run loosely with a minimum amount of friction, and the rotation of gear 9 will cause the rotation of shaft 9 and dial it. As soon as pinion 6 has been rotated the proper amount it will, acting under gravity, settle down into close contact with gear 9., and thereby bring said ear and the dial accurately to position. n consequence the rotation of the gears will be free and yet when the rotation is complete the dial will be in correct position.

There is another important advant'a e mechanically in mountin the conical dia upon a vertical shaft, f or wit 1 such construction the dial, if accurately formed is always in balance. Consequently friction upon the bearings and eccentricity due to inequality of weight will be avoided. There is another and minor advantage in employing a vertical shaft and that is that a jeweled step-bearing may be em loyed which operates practically without friction and Without wear and without the necessity of lubrication. There are two other important advantages in employing a conical dial in the manner shown, and 'these are, first, that the same dial may be read simultaneously from opposite sides of the scale, and, second, that a greater surface is afforded for the numbers than would be afforded by a fiat dial of the same exterior diameter. In connection with the latter feature it will be understood'that in computing,

dials of this general class there is a se arate row of product-numbers h for each mu tiplier or price per pound. In order, therefore, to give a wide range of prices, itbecomes necessary to em )loy a very large dial or sacrifice the size of t e numbers. By employing a conical dial the superficial surface is increased, and a greater number of rows it may be employed with the same external diameter and the same sized numbers.

I do not desi e to be limited to the specific form of cap here shown, as it is not necessary that such cap should completely inclose the dial, nor do I desire to be limited to the pre- (RS6 arrangement of the figures upon dial it, nor to the PIQCISQ manner of mounting shaft g. It is obvious that the constructions may be considerably Varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Although I have shown the cone to be produced. to a point, this is not essential, as any right frustum of a cone would operate upon the same principle.

Attention is hereby directed to my com- &

panion application for weighing-scales, filed by me on even date herewith, Serial No. 250,817. 1

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

'1. In a weighing-scale the combination with the scale-beam and beam-support of a rotatable dial having a conical exterior sur' face with product-numbers arranged in concentric rows thereon, a stationary reading member adjacent to said dial, a shaft whereto said dial is secured; a bevel gear-wheel fastened to said shaft for rotating it, and a sec-' ond bevel gear-wheel adapted to mesh with the first, said second ear-wheel being bodily movable toward and Tom the first and being weight-influenced to approach it, said bodilymovable gear-wheel being driven from the scalebea1n,

, 2. In a weighing-scale, the combination, with the scale-beam, beam-sup ort and a readin member, of a dial rotata le about a vertica axis and operated by the scale-beam, said dial having product-numbers arranged in concentric rows thereon and having a conical exterior surface, a vertical shaft whereto said dial is secured, and a air of intermcshingbevel-gears, one of whicfirotates said shaft and the other of which is rotated by the scalebeam, one of said gears being restrained from moving in an axial direction and the other being movable and weight-influenced to appreach the first to thereby bring the dial to rest in correct position.

3. In a weighing-scale, the combination,-

with the scale-beam and beam-support, of a rotatable dial; means for reading said dial; a shaft whereon said dial is mounted; and a pair of intermeshing bevel-gears'for rotating said dial, one of said bevel-gears being rigid on said shaft and the other being verticall movable and weight-influenced to approac the first for bringing the dial to rest in correct posi- "tion, the vertical1y-movable bevel-gear being driven from the scale-beam.

4. In a wei hing-scale, the combination, with the scaleearn and beam-support, of a rotatable dial; means for reading said dial; a shaft whereon said dial is mounted; and apair of intermeshing bevel-gears, one of which rotates said shaft and the other of which is rotated by the scale-beam, one of said gears being restrained from moving in an axial direction and the other being movable and weightinfluenced to approach the first to thereby bring the dial to rest in correct position.

5. In a weighing-scale, the combination, with the scale-beam and beam-support, of a rotatable dial; means for reading said dial; a sh aft whereon said dial is mounted; and a pair of intermeshing bevehgears for rotating said dial, one of said bevehgears being rigid on said sh aft, a pivotally-supported member wherein 'bevelegesr; and gear connections between the oth er of said bevel-gears is mounteclg-saicl In witness whereof I have heremnto submember being Weighted for bringing its beve'lscribed my name in the presence of two ifgear more closely into contact with the other n-esses.

l JOHN G, BLESSING. said movable bevel-gear and. the scale-beam whereby the motion of said beam is imparted to the movable bevel-gear".

Witnesses:

OLIVER L. PLUMTREE, HOWARD MCOX. 

